Track shifting device



y 28, 1935' H. B. M. DE LANGE 2,003,252

TRACK SHIFTING DEVICE Filed June 50, 1950 Patented May 28, 1935 vTRACKSHIFTING DEVICE Hendrik Bernardus Marie de'Lange, Nijmegen,

Netherlands Application Jnne30, 193 0, Serial No. 465,013 7 In theNetherlands, July 12, 1929 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to machines for laterally shiftingrailroad tracks. Y s

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple,powerful, and eflicient machine for quickly moving railroad tracks ineither lateral direction as may be desired.

One embodiment of my invention is diagrammatically illustrated in thesingle view .of the accompanying drawing, which view is an endelevation, partly in section.

Referring in detail to the drawing, fdesignates the main frame of themachine mounted on usual track Wheels or rail wheels A cross beam a isrigidly mounted; on frame I so as to be immovable with relation theretoand has pivotally mounted in its respective. end portions depending armsa. A pairof hooks b adapted to hook under the rails l of the main line,or the line upon which the wheels 1 are located, are pivotally connectedto the frame f and are moved into andout of hooking relation about theirpivotal points by means of link rods r pivotally connected to said hooksand to an operating lever o pivotally mounted as at 0', the points ofconnection of said rods 1 being on opposite sides of the pivotal point0. Similarly hooks b are respectively rigidly connected to the lowerportions of the respective arms a which in turn are pivotally connectedto control link rods swhich are pivotally connected to, a control lever72 on opposite sides of pivotal mounting'p' of said lever p on the crossbeam a. Thus, by a swinging of the lever o to the right the hooks b willswing about their pivots so that their lower ends will swing toward eachother and thus out from underneath of the rails 1, whereas movement ofthe lever 0 into vertical position shown will cause the lower ends ofsaid hooks b to move away from each other to hook under the said railsl. Similarly movement of the lever p to the right will serve to swingthe legs a toward each other and so move the hooks 19 out of hookingrelation to the outer rail n of an adjacent track or tracks.

A pair of longitudinally extending shafts d are mounted respectivelyadjacent the respective sides of the frame in bearings rigid therewithand are formed with crank arms e having wrist pins 2 to which arerespectively permanently pivotally connected the upper ends of legs g.The legs g are rigidly connected together by a frame 0, said frame 0 andlegs 9' together constituting a unitary supporting element which iscaused to move with relation to said frame f vertically and laterally inaccordance with the movement of the cranks e and their respective wristpins 2. Sprocket wheels :1 are respectively mounted on the respectiveshafts d and connected by means of drive chains h to corresponding drivewheels m of a suitable electric motor or other source of power m rigidlymounted on the frame f, the driving connection between said shaftsd andthe drivewheels m being such that the shafts it will always'rotate inthe same direc-v tion and with their cranks e in the same angularrelation to their respective axes. For, driving the wheels I to travelalong the rails Z the motor at will beconnected withsaid wheels 1 bymeans of a vertical shaft 2 driven by said motor m and provided with abevel-gear meshing with a corresponding bevel-gear on the axle which isrigid or integral with said wheels asusual, suitable means beingprovided foruncoupling said shaft 12 from the motor m when the shafts dare to, be driven and for uncoupling the drive wheels m from saidrnotorm when the wheels fare to, be driven. 1 Y I The legs g are each formedof two sections hingedly connected together by the respectiverods 1) andD which are rigidly connected to the lower portions whereby partialrotation of said rods band of will cause a corresponding longitudinalswinging movement of said lower portions to the end that said lowerportions may be swung rearwardly and upwardly to raise them so as not tostrike against or contact with switches and crossings over which the,machine may pass. The outer ends of the rods valid 11' have respectivelymounted thereon to turn therewith bevel-gears y and y meshing withbevelgears :12 and as respectively which are connected together by meansof a drive chain a whereby the movement of bevel-gear a: will betransmitted to bevel-gear r on the other side of the frame 0. A handshaft t mounted for rotation on frame 0 and extending vertically withrelation thereto and to the frame f so as to be easily accessible to anoperator standing or seated on the latter is provided with an actuatingbevel-gear a mounted thereon to turn therewith and meshing withbevel-gear (1, whereby rotation of shaft t will cause the raising orlowering of the legs 9, according to the direction of such rotation.

The operation of the device, briefly stated, is as follows:

Assuming the machine to be traveling along the rails Z and to havereached the point where it is desired to shift the rails Z and n of thecorresponding tracks, the clutch connecting the shaft i to the motor mis moved to break such drive connection, the levers and p are movedtoward the left to vertical or substantially vertical position, wherebythe hooks b and b are caused to hook under their respective rails Z andn. Thereafter the clutch governing connection between the motor 111; anddrive wheels m is moved to establish such drive connection, whichresults in driving the shafts d in a clockwise direction, whereby thewrist pins 2 will move in a clockwise direction until the axes of saidwrist pins 2 lie in the same horizontal plane withthe axes of the shaftsd, at which time the legs g carried by the wrist pins e and their wristpins 2 will rest upon the ground, and continued rotation of the shafts(1 will cause said shafts (Z to move through an arc of 180 degrees, overand beyond wrist pins 2 as shown by dot and dash line in the drawing asto, the right-hand shaft (1, such movement of the shafts (1 involvingthe raising and lateral displacement to the same extent of the mainframe f'with its wheels 1 and with its cross beam (1, consequentlyinvolving the lifting and lateral displacement of the tracks l--n inthesame direction and to the same degree, and such operation may becontinued until the said tracks have been moved laterally to the desireddegree, after which the shafts d are preferably partially rotated untilthe cranks e lie in a vertical plane with the wrist pins 2 at the top,whereby the legs y will be held raised up out of contact with theground, and thereafter or before, the levers o and p will be swung tothe right about their pivots so as to move the hooks b and b out ofhooked engagement with the rails Z and n respectively, after which theclutch connection between the motor m and the drive wheels m will bedisconnected and the shaft i will be put in driving connection with themotor m, and the machine will be moved to the next point at which it isdesired to move the tracks laterally,

Having fully described my invention what, I claim is:

1. In apparatus for laterally shifting railway tracks, a frame, wheelsmounted on said frame and adapted to run on one of said tracks totransport the apparatus, means mounted on said frame forv holding saidtrack in fixed relation to said wheels, a pair of shafts mountedparallel to each other in suitable bearings on said frame, a source ofpower, means for coupling said source of power to said wheels, and meansfor coupling said source of power to said shafts to rotate said shaftsin the same direction, in combination with a transverse bar, a pair ofcrank arms having their longitudinal central lines always disposedparallel to each other, and a pair of feet respectively mounted on therespective crank arms to move therewith about the respective axes ofsaid shaft and disposed on opposite sides of said track and adapted tosupport the same and said apparatus during the actual lifting andtransverse movement thereof, said crank arms being connected at one endto said shafts respectively to turn therewith.

, 2. In apparatus for laterally shifting railway tracks, a frame, wheelsmounted on said frame and adapted to run on one of said tracks totransport the apparatus, and means mounted on said-frame for holdingsaid track in fixed relation to said wheels, in combination with a pairof crank arms mounted in suitable bearings carried by said frame, meansfor rotating said crank arms about their axes and in definite relationto each other, and a pair of feet respectively mounted on the respectivecrank arms to move therewith about the respective axes of said crankarms and disposed on opposite sides of said track and adapted to supportthe same and said apparatus during the actual lifting and transversemovement thereof,

3. Apparatus for laterally shifting a railway track and comprising aframe, and means for holding said track in fixed relation to said frame,in combination'with a pair of crank arms mounted in suitable bearings insaid frame, means for rotating said arms about their axes, and a pair offeet respectively mounted on the respective crank arms and disposed onopposite sides of said track and adapted to support the same and saidapparatus during the actual lifting and transverse movement thereof.

4. Apparatus for laterally shifting railway tracks comprising a frameand wheels mounted on said frame and adapted to run on one of saidtracks, in combination with a crank arm mounted in said frame, shiftingmeans adapted to engage a second railway track to laterally shift thelatter in accordance with the movement'of the crank arm, and meansassociated with said crank arm for causing said movement ofsaid'shifting means.

HENDRIK BERNARDUS MARIE 1m LANGE.

